OUR VALUES (2019), Dani Ploeger
EXHIBITION: Door Open Space
Thu May 30 – Sun June 2
To keep unwanted bodies outside defined boundaries, violent borders are created. These are maintained and sanitised through ethical and clean narratives that obscure any unethical position or responsibility.
The latest razor wire reinforcing the European Union’s external borders – to keep out refugees – is produced in Malaga by European Security Fencing (ESF). Narrated in euphemistic, positive-sounding, and probably Google Translate-generated corporate language, the material is treated as a harmless consumer item that you can order ‘quickly and safely’ via the webshop — a stark contrast to the archaic, violent reality of its application as part of Fortress Europe.
In OUR VALUES, ESF wire is attached vertically to a metal stand with a horn loudspeaker, similar to those installed on the Hungarian-Serbian border fence. Through the loudspeaker, the voice of Google Translate monotonously speaks out the ESF corporate values listed on the website. In August 2019, Dani Ploeger travelled to Serbia to install this object next to the border fence.
About the artist
Dani Ploeger explores conflict and crisis on the fringes of high-tech consumerism. His objects, videos and software engage with the spectacle of waste, sex, and violence, questioning the utopian marketing surrounding innovation and its bodily implications. His work is informed by field research on the use of everyday technologies under extraordinary circumstances. He accompanied frontline troops in the Russo-Ukrainian war, investigated dumpsites in Nigeria and is currently working in the context of the Rojava Revolution (Syria).
